Ministry among many...

(Read from the bottom up, if you want sequential order. The newest posts are always at the top.)

Over the past few months our family has been busy serving those immigrants here in Southern Spain for whom we are called. Your prayers and support continue to allow us to meet the physical and spiritual needs of those around us. Since our last update we have continued to meet more people, hear more stories, and see once again how our presence is of great need. For example, we have participated in a United Nations human rights conference in Paris, France, in which we learned of many needs of marginalized people. In one session, a woman from Senegal said, “What can mothers do about their children dying on clandestine boats headed for Spain.” We have also visited the ministry site of a co-worker, shared our ministry and vision with CBF constituents, and continued to work to develop ties with local NGOs. There is much more we would like to share and even more to be accomplished but for now, we would like to highlight three stories…

Our family in Paris during the UN conference.

Demba’s Story:

We have known Demba for about 5 months. He is always smiling, laughing, and joking. When we met him, he was also dancing. Today he told me (Tiffne) part of his story. He came to Spain two years ago from Senegal. He said that his parents are elderly and that they had not had work in Senegal for many years. He has a sister with children. He has a wife, and a four year old son. When he left Senegal his wife was pregnant with their second child, so now he also has a one year and 4 month old baby whom he has never seen. He came to Spain to find work so that he could send money home to provide for his extended family because there was no work in Senegal. As Demba told me about his family back home and his baby boy that he had never seen, for the first time in the five months that I have known him the smile disappeared from his face and the light went out of his eyes. Demba was sad, and I felt a tiny bit of the suffering of these precious people.

Demba took our children to the store and with his hard earned money bought each of them a bag of cookies. It was hard for me to let him do it, but he insisted. Now I wonder if maybe he was buying my children a bag of cookies, because he couldn’t do so with his own children who live in Africa.

Here is Cade sitting with Demba the first time we met him.

Riots in Roquetas:

This past month proved to be a difficult month for our friends living in “200 viviendas”. What started as a small fight being broken up by a friend; ended up in a full-scale riot that lasted for a couple nights complete with riot police, helicopter support, burning dumpsters and apartments, flying bottles and rocks, and many disrupted lives including one Senegalese man being fatally stabbed. A few days after the incident, we had the opportunity to visit the area where there still was a strong police presence and a feeling of uncertainty even though much had returned to normal. Since then we have had numerous opportunities to minister in this area where we already knew various families and young men, including a Nigerian Independence Day party, and delivering vegetables to our friends who live in an apartment above one that was burned.

This is one of the apartment units that was set ablaze during the rioting.

One of our newest contacts in the area is a family with a newborn premature baby. Fortunately the baby was still in the hospital at the time of the incident but the father said he was still concerned to bring his baby home even a week after. The place where this family is staying it a mere 30 yards from one of the burned out apartment buildings. Tiffne has sent previous prayer updates about this family and their new baby and we are thankful for all the prayers. Many churches and individuals have come together to provide formula, clothing, and blankets for the new baby and we were able to provide them with one of our boys pack-n-plays as a crib.

Proud father, Check from Cameroon, holding his daughter (Margarita) at home just a week after the riots.

VBS at FBC Roquetas de Mar:

FBC Roquetas de Mar is a Nigerian church near where we live. In August we had a VBS for the children of their church. Our VBS “team” was made up of wonderful volunteers from two Mennonite churches from the United States, missionary volunteers from various Baptist backgrounds, another volunteer from a Methodist background, and volunteers from our Spanish Baptist Church. Along with our friends from Nigerian, we had many different cultures working together, and we had a wonderful time and a great VBS. One highlight of the first day was the Mennonite song, “Apple Red Happiness” that the children learned in music class.

“Apple Red Happiness,

Popcorn Cheerfulness,

Cinnamon singing inside,

Peppermint energy,

Gumdrop holiday,

When you give Christ your life!”

Then we served red apples and popcorn for snack along with lemonade! What fun!

Here is one VBS class at the Nigerian Church in Roquetas de Mar.

Craft time during VBS.

Thank you….

Thank you for your continued support and prayer for our family, ministries, and for those whom we serve.

Please continue to pray for Megan’s new teacher. For the first week of school she didn’t have a teacher and things became disorganized. Now she has a teacher. He is right out of Institute (college.) Megan says he is nice.

Please continue to pray diligently for our Muslim friends here, that they would become more and more open to a personal relationship with Christ.

Love,

the Whitleys

Banana Boat Blog Update

We are continually amazed at how God is leading us to meet those in need around us here in southern Spain. Over the past few months we have met many West Africans from Senegal and The Gambia and in short order have become friends. Each time we visit taking only a small bag of vegetables, they invite us in, offer us African tea, cook a meal, buy juice or water and won’t let us leave until we have partaken of all they offer. One day while at the home of some of our Gambian friends, Tiffne was helping cook a traditional African meal when Dabou shared this piece of African philosophy about why Africans eat together all out of one very large plate. He explained that “when everyone eats together we are all the same. If a man with money is eating with a man who has no money and they eat from the same bowl, no one knows which man has the money. We all share together and then we are the same.”

We have a lot to learn from our African friends. In fact, Dabou has been very instrumental in my understanding of why so many sub-Saharan Africans are making the dangerous trip from their country to Europe by sharing his story with us.

The story of Dabou:

Dabou is from a small fishing village in The Gambia. His father was a fisherman and all the boys in his family fished to support the family. Dabou is the second born son in his family and when his father died his oldest brother was obligated to provide for the entire family as is the culture in Africa. Over the years the ocean around the The Gambia has suffered a decline in fish production due to over-fishing, and Dabou’s family was barely scrapping by, going hungry more days than not each month. As head of his late father’s family, about twenty-five mouths to feed, Dabou’s oldest brother told Dabou that he would have to make the journey to Europe, find work and send money back to his family so that they could survive.

The journey for Dabou began in 2004. He left The Gambia heading north-east through Senegal to Mali. Over the next few months Dabou traveled through Mali to Niger then turned west and crossed Algeria and the Sahara desert to enter Morocco. From Morocco he and twenty something other sub-Saharan Africans boarded a small boat powered by a Yamaha 25 horsepower outboard motor to make the trip to the Canary Islands, which is a Spanish providence and thus Europe. Leaving the banks of Morocco under the cover of darkness at around 11 pm the boat began the dangerous open water ocean crossing. At about 8 am the second day their boat made landfall on the Canary Islands. After about 33 hours on the boat Dabou and the others were met on the beaches by the Spanish police and taken directly to a refugee camp holding area. Dabou lived in this camp for about four months. During his time there he was able to obtain documents that allowed him to remain in Spain. Dabou says that this time was very scary for him, “many are sent back to their own countries, but I was one of the lucky ones, I got my papers.”

Today finds Dabou living in southern Spain and when he can find work, working in the greenhouses that cover the landscape around his town. He says, “[the] greenhouse work is very, very hard for little money.” However, in spite of his struggle to find steady work, he is still able to make enough money to live on and send some back to his brother in The Gambia so that his family can live.

As we sit and talk with our friends, we are hearing their stories and discovering their needs. We are able to, in some instances either meet a critical need or help them to meet their needs themselves. One of the really neat conversations that have been developing is the conversation about what we do. It is exciting to tell these young men and families that we are here doing what we do because there are churches in the United States that care about them. On many occasions they have expressed their gratitude for what we do and have asked that we thank those churches with whom we work.

One team that has recently worked with us was the Cole family from First Baptist Church of Abilene, TX. Below is part of a longer email they sent to their supporters describing their experience:

“[As we] reach out to those who are the most neglected and marginalized people on the planet, let me explain who these people are and how they got to Spain… The largest groups of people… come from West Africa. The people… are to the point that they are absolutely dependent on someone from their family clan (usually the best and brightest) to make it to an industrialized country alive. If you look on a map you will see that there are two ways to get from West Africa to the nearest industrialized country, Spain. They can make the journey two ways. Both see what is approximated to be at least a 25% death rate for those who attempt the migration. They can attempt to travel over a thousand miles by sea hoping to reach the Spanish Canary Islands. Or they can go 2,500 miles overland through Mali, which is the beginning of the Sahara Desert, through Algeria to Morocco. If these folks who have spent their whole lives never much more than a few miles from home in a rainy equatorial climate make it through 2,000 miles of desert they bump into Morocco. In Morocco they are considered a pariah to Moorish society and can essentially be killed for going over or under the fences. If they make it to the coast of Morocco they still have to figure out how to get across 100 miles of the Mediterranean Sea. Oddly enough, due to the vessels we would not even call boats; it seems to be the last 100 miles that sees the most fatalities. Thousands attempt this journey every year. While many make it, many either perish due to dehydration, exposure, or drowning, or they are forced to turn around and attempt to make it back home. Once in Spanish territorial waters, or upon reaching the Spanish shore they are taken by the authorities to a holding camp to be processed, tested for diseases, given acute medical attention, and questioned about who they are and where they come from. They are typically held for up to three months and then literally turned loose to find their own way into Spanish society. They usually gravitate to their countrymen in public housing blocks where they are embraced by the group with a bond that we can probably never truly understand. They are released by the authorities stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. They can't work because they have no papers, but they can't get papers because they can't prove that they have the possibility to work. The small percentage who have gotten papers and work literally support a 3 to 4 room household with up to 15 or 20 people. Once here long enough many get jobs working in the massive vegetable industry where they can earn money to simply survive while sending the majority of the coveted euros they earn back home where it literally provides opportunity for their cherished family members to survive another month.

Their stories of unbelievably difficult journeys, struggles to navigate in and amalgamate into a completely foreign culture, and the sacrifices they make to make their family's lives better are inspiring. But it is something else that will strike deeply and profoundly. Joy prevails! Though they have been through horrific experiences, have very little, and have no real promise of a different future, they are the most joyful people we have ever seen. When you meet them the first thing you will notice is a smile that never seems to loose its beam. They embrace and invite you right into their living rooms where ten more will pour the same warmth all over you.”

Windows of Joy

Each summer refugee children come to Spain to visit for about 2 months. These children were born and raised in a refugee camp in the Sahara Desert. They live in tents and do not have running water. All of there basic needs are brought in to these camps to them. They attend school in these camps. Their lives are difficult. During their time here in Spain we want to work together with others to provide a window of joy in their lives. This summer we are planning to have an art camp for these children, and we are looking forward to seeing them smile.

We are also planning a Vacation Bible School with a Nigeria church here in southern Spain. These two activities are the kinds of mini-projects that you support through your prayers and giving to the Migration Crisis and Relief Project. Thank you for your ministry to these precious people from Africa.

To support the work of CBF field personnel around the world; you can give to the Offering for Global Missions at: Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Resource Center, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA 30392. Also, if you would like to give directly to our project, please send donations to the above address and be certain to include this project’s account number in the memo line. (project # 89832)

Prayer Update

Thank you so much for praying for our ministry here. God is really answering your prayers and we are having lots of opportunities to reach out.

• Please continue to pray for God to lead us to those he wants us to minister to.
• Pray that He will grow His church here in southern Spain.
• Pray for our preparation and the team of volunteers who will be helping with the art camp and the VBS this August.
• Pray for us as we travel to team meetings this summer. Pray that we will have good meetings and that travel will go smoothly.

Thank you for praying for our family. Our kids seem to be doing great and adjusting well. The boys are growing and are as wild as three year old boys can be. Megan has had a great kindergarten year, her Spanish is good, she learned to read in English at home, and she will have a dance recital with a ballet dance in a tutu and a flamenco dance as well!

• Please begin to pray now for Megan’s new teacher next year. Her teacher this year was wonderful and that helped with her adjustment so much.

Thank you for keeping up with us, and for praying for us.

You can continue to e-mail us at twhitley@thefellowship.info .

Migration Crisis & Relief Project Update

Our ministry has started in two areas: Yegua Verde (the Green Mare – a rural type neighborhood surrounded by the green houses that are used here in Spain for much of the agriculture) and 200 Viviendas (200 houses – similar to neighborhoods know as the projects in the United States). Pictured below is the sculptured “green mare” that stands in the roundabout marking the center of the Yegua Verde community. Also below, is a picture of the playground in 200 Viviendas.

Ester is from Equatorial Guinea and now lives in Yegua Verde. She is interested in going to church and by the time we get this posted we will have had the opportunity to take her to a local Evangelical church in Vícar near her home.

Mamadou is from Senegal and lives in 200 Viviendas. He has become a friend and guide to knowing and understanding the culture and lives of those Africans living in 200 Viviendas. Pray that as we work with him we might meet other families from Africa who are also in need and that we might be able to be the presence of Christ to them.

One of the ways we are being able to meet people like Ester and Mamadou is through our weekly food distribution. Each Wednesday morning we work with a partnering missionary family and a Christian worker from Granada to collect the weekly excess vegetables from a nearby produce factory. We then sort and bag up sacks of vegetables for distribution to families and individuals who have little resources to purchase such items. Pictured below is our crew sorting and bagging the vegetables one Wednesday morning. This small scale food distribution has been a very meaningful and beneficial way for us to meet individuals, start friendships and nourish hungry stomachs. We hope that in time we will be able to share the “food of the gospel” and nourish hungry and hurting hearts.

Recently Tiffne visited a children’s program for North Africans. Some of our coworkers here have recently started this program. While we were doing crafts with the children some men from the local mosque came in and they were very unfriendly. Also, one of their wives told a little girl in the group that if she continued to attend the program she would hit her. This little girl is beautiful and she belongs to the family that is friends with our missionary partners. This same North African family has such a close relationship with our ministry partner family, that when their oldest boy got into some trouble at his school, our partners and Joel had the opportunity to talk with the school about a problem he was having and was able to work out a solution for his return to his classes. During that time, Tiffne held their new baby daughter and later visited in their home and had wonderful Moroccan tea and pastries. Please pray for our ministry partners and this precious family as they face some persecution.

Banana Boat Prayer Update:

• Pray for our “Migration Crisis and Relief Project.” Pray that we will be the presence of Christ to those we serve.
• Pray for the migrants and refugees that are making the dangerous journey to Europe. We have meet people from Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, the Gambia, Mauritania, and Somalia.
• Please pray for the two teams that are making preparations to come this summer and join us in our ministry here in southern Spain.
• Please pray for our family as we continue to assimilate to the cultures and languages that we experience here each day. (Please pray specifically for Megan’s dance recital in June – that things would work out for the ballet performance as well as the flamenco dance.)

• We have recently finished up the full-time language learning phase of our assignment here in Southern Spain. Please pray for us as we begin to research and explore ministry opportunities. We are excited about this phase of our work here.

• Our visas are finally in! Hooray! So we will be traveling in March to pick them up. Please pray that traveling with our three little munchkins will go as smoothly as possible. Please pray for us as we deal with jet lag and for Megan as she will miss some days of school, that she will settle back in well.

• Thank you for praying for Megan’s school situation. She loves her school. Recently Tiffne had the rare opportunity to volunteer at the school. Several mothers made bocadillos for all of the children. Bocadillos are a Spanish type sandwich made out of fresh baked bread (similar to French bread) with fresh tomato sauce mixed with olive oil and salt spooned into the middle. Some of the sandwiches just had olive oil mixed with either salt or sugar. The children loved them. Megan ate two!

• We have two different volunteer groups coming in the next few months. Please pray for us as we work together with them to begin our ministries here in southern Spain. A large part of what both parties will be doing will involve the work of our ministry project: “Migration Crisis and Relief Project”. The main goal of this project is to meet the physical needs of those internationals in despair, then through service build relationships that might lead to an opportunity to share the gospel. For more information about this project and how you might be able to become involved through prayer, giving, or service; follow the links on the right of our blog page for the previous post titled “August.” The project description is about half way down on the August 17, 2007 post.

We enjoy eating churros at the street market near our home. We have met several immigrants from Africa at this market. We greet them in Spanish, French, English, and Sereer.

On the way to Madrid to get our passports renewed, we stopped for a little sledding. It was a “little” because there was only one little patch of ice to sled down the day we were there.

In Granada before we meet with our landlady to sign another lease for our apartment, we stopped to see the Alhambra. It is an old fortress/castle from 1238.

Megan and her class enjoying the Carnival day at school.

Tiffne making bocadillos at Megan’s school.

Megan eating bocadillos at school during her snack time.

Jamón, as it is called here in Spain, is a cultural norm for fiestas. Basically, it is a hog leg that has been salted and hung to cure dry. To serve, just cut the outside off and slice the meat really thin and serve; no cooking or refrigeration needed. And, though it may not look enticing, it tastes great!

Christmas in Spain

Here in Spain there are some neat traditions at Christmas time. On Christmas Eve families get together and have dinner (around 9:30 pm, the normal Spanish time for dinner), then they celebrate together on Christmas day as well, but they don’t usually have a visit from Santa Clause (Papa Noel.) They have a different tradition that begins on January 5, but before that they celebrate New Years Eve by eating 12 grapes on each stroke of the clock at midnight (hopefully they are small and seedless, and actually you can buy small cans of 12 seedless, peeled grapes for this occasion.) Then on Jan. 5 there is a parade in which the three kings; the black king is named Baltasar, the brown bearded king is named Melchor, and then the white haired and bearded king is named Gaspar. The parade travels through town with candy for the children. In the homes that evening the children leave out three bowls of water for the kings’ camels and traditional Spanish Christmas foods and goodies for the three kings. The children also place a pair of shoes out near the food so that the kings will know how many children are in the home. The next morning, the children wake up to find gifts left for them from the three kings. This custom helps people remember that this season is about the birth of Jesus and the visit the three kings made to bring gifts to the King of Kings.

Immanuel – God with us

I love Christmas time. I love seeing the lights on the houses, the smells in the air, the tastes of all of the special dishes and sweets, the sounds of Christmas carols, the feel of snow crunching beneath my feet. I love Christmas. One year I was living in Africa just before Christmas. Christmas was very different in Africa. Most of the people did not celebrate Christmas, so you didn’t see Christmas everywhere like you do in America. The weather was very hot so it didn’t feel like Christmas. One thing I will never forget is singing Christmas carols to the beat of an African drum. That year, right before Christmas day I returned to America. One of the first places that I ended up going after I got off of the plane was a Wal-Mart store. I remember being so excited and just turning around in circles in the middle of the store looking at all of the Christmas decorations and just stuff because I love Christmas. My favorite thing about Christmas is that it is the time of year that is meant to remind us of Immanuel – God with us; the fact that God came to earth to be with us.

That day in the Wal-Mart store, Christmas just seemed so huge to me since I had just come from a country that didn’t celebrate Christmas, but the real enormity of Christmas is really stated in those four words: Immanuel – God with us.

Matthew 1:23 “’The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’”—which means, “God with us.” NIV

Thank you for praying for us during this holiday season when we are away from loved ones.

Merry Christmas from the Whitley’s in Spain!

Banana Boat Adventures to Tangier, Morocco and Valencia, Spain...

(Read from the bottom up, if you want sequential order. The newest posts are always at the top.)

Prayer Update

Thank you for praying for us:

• Thank you for praying for Megan’s school situation. She has been in school for 7 weeks now and she loves it. Her teacher is very nice, and Megan is learning Spanish very fast. She was invited to a classmates’ birthday party this week and she had a great time.
• Thank you for continuing to pray for our visa situation. Joel’s came in, but we are still waiting for Tiff’s and the children’s. When they come in we will travel to pick them up as well.
• Please continue to pray for our language and cultural acquisition here in Spain. We are involved with three different Spanish schools. Please pray for continued open doors to discuss spiritual things with our classmates.
• As we begin to prepare for ministry here in Spain we are looking in several directions. Please pray for God’s leadership in this area and for His open doors. We are researching the human trafficking crisis and how we can help here in Europe as well as how we can help with other migrant and refugee situations.

It has been a while since we have written an update. Life is busy and time always seems to be short. In spite of our lack of communication, we hope you have not forgotten us. Much has happened since our last update and I will try to share some of it with you through pictures.

From the 6^th to the 8^th of October we had to make a trip to Tangier, Morocco for a few days. This was a great experience for Megan. She knows we do a lot of work to help those who are poor, hurting, or devastated (like when Joel went to help with Katrina), but until now she has never been able to put a face to what it looks like to be poor, or what is looks like to need help. While in Tangier she saw a glimpse of what those lives are like. In order to be polite and culturally appropriate I was not able to capture in photos the people we saw, but I did have a few opportunities to take photos in and around the Medina area of old Tangier.

Here is a picture of the large Mosque in the center of the old Tangier Medina.

In the Medina, narrow, dark allies snake their way up and down the hill top. Shops line each side and you can buy everything from paintings to cloths to house ware to live animals (the boys really liked the street with all the chickens). While in the meat and vegetable area, I had the opportunity to ask a butcher if I could take his photo. He said I could, so here is a picture of an open air meat market.

While in Tangier were able to use our rusty French a little and remind ourselves how fortunate we are to be learning Spanish now and not Arabic. In this picture Tiff is enjoying a cold drink. Can you guess what she is drinking?

You never know what you might see in Africa. While driving around Tangier looking for a restaurant that was open we saw this caravan of camels walking right down a main road.

Between our trip to Tangier and October 25^th, Megan was in school and Tiff and Joel attended Spanish language classes. On October 25^th we loaded up again and drove to the annual UEBE convention in Gandia (Valencia). The UEBE is the organization that has invited us to work in Spain. The convention was a great way for us to meet like minded Baptist here in Spain. The work they are doing here in Spain and around the world is great and inspiring. We did not understand everything that went on in the actual sessions but made some friends and got ideas for a few more ministries we will be looking into.

Here is a picture of our family at the convention in one of the main worship sessions.

Below are two pictures from the convention. Both are taken during a worship session and it is humbling to know that even though we are different in culture, language, location….we worship the same God!

Halloween in Spain is a little different that what we are accustomed to in the U.S. For one, there is not really the tradition of trick-or-treating. Instead, families with children gathered in a park, bought candy, and enjoyed talking and watching the children playing in their Halloween costumes. We knew nothing of these Halloween activities until that night when we were invited to come to the park by some Argentinean friends who have a daughter 1 year younger than Megan at the same school. Here is a picture of our children with Megan’s new friend.

Finally, the morning after Halloween we let took the kids to another park near our house and snapped this picture of all three on the slide.

Thank you so much for keeping up with us through our blog newsletter. We are truly blessed by your friendship and support.

Thank you also for your continued support through giving. If it is your desire to give to the continuing efforts of missions around the world, please consider giving to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Offering for Global Missions by sending a check to: “Offering for Global Missions,” Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA 30392, or by going online to http://www.thefellowship.info/ and give with a credit card by following the links. The Offering for Global Missions helps support CBF field personnel and ministries world wide.

Or perhaps it is your desire to give directly to our project; you can do that by sending a check to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship – Project, at Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA 30392. Be certain to note our particular project by writing Migration Crisis and Relief, account # 89832 in the memo line.

Thank you again for keeping up with us, and for your continued prayers. You can continue to e-mail us at twhitley@thefellowship.info . We love hearing from you.

Migration Crisis & Relief Project...Helping Humanity

(Read from the bottom up, if you want sequential order. The newest posts are always at the top.)

Prayer Update

Thank you for praying for us:

• Megan is enjoying summer school and her Spanish language classes. On the first day of summer school she cried in the car saying that she didn’t even know how to ask for a Kleenex, but when we got to her school the teacher and a little girl who spoke a tiny bit of English were waiting at the gate to welcome Megan and they became fast friends.
• Our trip to meetings went really well and we adjusted as well as possible to the jet lag. Here is a picture of Megan, Cade and Dylan with their luggage.
• Please continue to pray for our language learning. It is going to be a real challenge to learn Spanish and then be able to minister to people in French and Sereer. Please pray that God will help us to differentiate between the languages and be able to communicate His love in various languages. One night this week as we were walking along the beach we met 5 ladies from Africa. They spoke a little Spanish, and French. One of the ladies was Sereer, so I (Tiffne) sat down next to her and spoke to her in Sereer. It was awesome! (For those of you who haven’t heard me go on and on about it – Sereer is the language that I learned in Africa while living there and serving among the Sereer people.)
  
• Joel's visa has come in and we are expecting the rest of the family's soon, so he will be making a trip to Houston, Texas the first part of September to pick up the visas. Please pray that his trip will go smoothly and that Tiffne and the children's time alone in Spain for 5-6 days will go smootly as well.
  
• Megan starts school in September. Please pray for her new teacher and for a smooth transition for Megan. Please pray that she will have an encouraging first day of school.

Thank you again for keeping up with us, and for your continued prayers. You can continue to e-mail us at twhitley@thefellowship.info .

__________

As we continue with language study we are beginning to look to the future. Our work here in Spain, as you know, is primarily with refugees and migrants coming from Africa. Spain and many European Union countries call this people “irregular immigrants.” In The Almería Messenger, a local English newspaper we receive, we read articles in each issue that tell of the number of immigrants reaching the Almería coastline. In the July 6^th to 19^th issue we read this:

“Another 96…immigrants were escorted into the port in
Almería City this weekend, arriving on two small boats
carrying 33 and 63 people…Reports indicate that at
least 36 of the passengers on the two boats are underage.”

Everyday hundreds of thousands of people leave their home in search of safety, food, or simply the opportunity for a peaceful happy life. Our work here in Spain is just one point were groups of people intersect with immigrants along common migration pathways. Our work is two fold: simply meet human needs and present the gospel. In order to facilitate our work we have developed a project titled “Migration Crisis and Relief Project…Helping Humanity.” Below is a brief description of our project, project goals, and how you might be able to partner with us in ministry here in Spain:

• Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
  Joel & Tiffne Whitley
  Internationals Cluster, Europe Team
  International Refugee/Migrant Coordinators, Spain
  Contact Info:
  twhitley@thefellowship.info
  blog: http://www.nabcsf.org/
  click “Banana Boat Blog”
  
  Project Info:
  Migration Crises & Relief Project
  Account #: 89832
  
  Project Description:
  The Migration Crisis and Relief Project is designed to meet two fundamental needs of internationals who either have migrated to or are migrating through southern Spain. The first fundamental need is to aid in the crisis stage of migration. These are those beginning days and weeks after first landing in southern Spain. The second fundamental aspect of this project is to assist those internationals we meet by providing relief for the situations in their lives through humanitarian programs and spiritual outreach.
  
  Project Goals:
  1) Meet the physical needs of the people who migrate into and through southern Spain and be the presence of Christ to them amidst their situation.
  2) Collaborate with the local Red Cross and other organizations that minister to the immigrant populations in the Almería region.
  3) Create ways to incorporate hands on ministry experiences through mission trips or projects for churches in the U.S. to participate in meeting the human and spiritual needs of the international peoples here in southern Spain.
  4) Establish this ministry then encourage and enable local churches to participate. Eventually the goal will be to hand over parts of this ministry to local church congregations.
  
  Project Involvement:
  
• Pray…Pray for the peoples who make dangerous journeys along the migration routes from Africa to Southern Spain.
  
• Give…Support the work of CBF field personnel by giving to the Offering for Global Missions or specifically to this project. Send donations to: Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA 30392. If giving specifically to this project, be certain to include this project’s account number in the memo line. (project # 89832)
  
• Serve…Join this ministry by sharing it with others and by participating in mission service.

Blessings,

Joel & Tiffne Whitley

Pictures for Fun:

The boys….Megan taught them to make these faces!

Megan, Cade and Dylan at the McDonald’s play place sporting their new D.C. shirts.